Happy Birthday Lana Lang

By the old DC calendar, today is the birthday of Lana Lang, one of the more famous residents of Smallville.

She first appeared in Superboy #10 (September-October, 1950) to be a thorn in young Clark Kent's side, trying to prove he was Superboy...

...then, when she was an adult (starting with Showcase #9 from July-August, 1957), she first officially met Lois Lane, making life difficult for her, proving a rival for her as a reporter, as Lana would soon join the ranks of the Daily Planet.  Lana would also be a rival for Lois, competing for Superman's affection.  

Though she would leave Smallville (and later, Metropolis) for a time, Lana would always come back, and kept a connection to both Clark, and even Lois over the years, even developing super powers of her own, usually Kryptonian variations, but, she did have her own super identity (and the one she used to be a reservist in the Legion of Super-Heroes, the Insect Queen).

From time to time, Lana would become interested in another boy or man with super powers (most notably, Vartox), but Lana's heart would return to Superman....

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Lois Lane's Four Fantastic Kisses

Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane #29 (November, 1961), with a cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye, had three stories in it......but, at this moment, just taking a look at the cover story....with "The Irresistible Lois Lane" (with a mistakenly blond Lana Lang on the cover).

This story, by Robert Bernstein, Curt Swan and Stan Kaye, is a little odd for the time, with four super-heroes guest starring in Lois Lane's feature.

Lois receives a mysterious gift as Krypto flies above the Daily Planet making an "L" symbol.  Lois, having had a break in stories for a bit due to Superman not being around, goes to Perry White to sell a new story....of super-heroes she has kissed!  

Lois then goes out and finds Green Arrow, Aquaman and then Batman, and leaves ruby red lipstick on all of them (after a kiss, of course).  This frustrates Lana Lang to no end, but odder still, the heroes meet up after, gather the lipstick remains, after which, Batman flies in his Batplane to near Superman's Fortress of Solitude, where invading aliens are holding Superman captive with Green Kryptonite....so, Batman throws Superman a handkerchief full of Lois's lipstick?  

Superman, now immune to the Green K, chases the aliens off.  Then, Lois explains....Superman had a Plan "L" for Lois, where she would get Red Kryptonite (this variety which gives the Kryptonian exposed to it 48 hours of invulnerability to Green Kryptonite) to Superman.  

Lois, realizing her mystery gift was a device from the aliens to monitor her, came up with the kissing facade to get the Red K to Batman, who, as Superman's friend, knew where the Fortress was, and could get it to him.   (You think Batman is a planner, he's got nothing on Silver Age Superman and Lois).  As a reward for her aid, Lois gets a kiss from Superman!

Why a mention of a fantastic foursome?  Well, because this comic also came out the same month as Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four #1!   

Not knocking the Lois Lane tale, but just using it as an example of the changes that issue helped bring to the comic industry!

 

 

The Amazing Story of Superman-Red and Superman-Blue

"The Amazing Story of Superman-Red and Superman-Blue" first appeared in Superman #162 (July, 1963), by Leo Dorfman, Curt Swan and George Klein (and cover by Kurt Schaffenberger)....and it was a doozy!  Superman decides he has too much to do, so makes a machine that will increase his intelligence (powered by the many colors of Kryptonite), and does increase his intelligence (but also permanently splits Superman into two equal beings, one Superman-Blue, the other, Superman-Red).  With two Supermen, he is able to cure all the world's ails, reform the villains, even marry Lois and Lana (and start a family and retire).

Pretty good for an imaginary story, right?


But, this wasn't the end of the story....

Reprints

It's worth noting that this story was indeed a very good story, as shown by the number of times it has been reprinted.  First in the 100-Page Super-Spectacular DC-18 (July, 1973, with a cover by Nick Cardy), in the Best of DC #19 (December, 1981, with a cover by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano)...

...in the Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told from 1987 (both hardcover and softcover versions), and in DC's Greatest Imaginary Stories #1 under a Brian Bolland cover from 2005 (and soon after, the "imaginary story" was classified to Earth-168, putting it as a part of DC Continuity, though removed a bit....with a brief appearance in the Kingdom #2 and in Infinite Crisis #5)

Return

Superman-Red and Superman-Blue returned as a part of the usual DC Universe in an unnumbered Superman Spectacular in 1982, with "The Startling Saga Of Superman-Red And Superman-Blue" by Bob Rozakis, Paul Kupperberg, Adrian Gonzales and Vince Colletta (with Gonzales providing the cover).  Superman foe, the space cowboy on the flying horse, Terra-Man, finds some Red Kryptonite, and working with Lex Luthor, expose Superman to it (causing the Man of Steel to split into Superman-Red and Superman-Blue), with the duo capturing Terra-Man, but not Luthor, who then learns magic to threaten Lois Lane, while the two Supermen re-merge, then beat Luthor and save Lois.

Electric

For a time, Superman's powers changed from the Kryptonian powerhouse that he was to a more electric based hero, starting with Superman #123 (May, 1997) by Dan Jurgens, Ron Frenz and Joe Rubenstein.  This lasted for a while (from "Superman Triangle Numbers" #19 of 1997 to #21 of 1998, including a Superman Red/Superman Blue special, with the dueling electrical Supermen in February of 1998, with triangle #6 of 1998, where the Superman Red premiered in), and the two had re-merged into a "classic" Superman in Superman Forever #1 (June, 1998) after defeating the Millennium Giants. 

Rebirth

With the death of the New 52 Superman, an earlier Superman returned to be the "new" Man of Steel, and very recently, Superman #18, Action Comics #975, Superman #19 (revealing the older Superman to have a "blue" energy, and the newer, deceased one to have released his "red" energy" and Action Comics #976 (all 2017, Superman #18 and #19 by Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason and Mick Grey, the Action Comics by Dan Jurgens, Doug Mahnke and Jaime Mendoza)...

...give the saga of Superman Red/Superman Blue new life for the new Millennium, seeing Superman Reborn!

Giant Lois Lane With Lana Lang

Lois Lane was the feature of 80 Page Giant #3 (September, 1964), but the focus was split between Superman's girlfriend, and Superman's ex-girlfriend, Lana Lang....


...who had been the sweetheart of Superboy (Superman, when he was just a boy).  Of course, Superboy grew up and moved to Metropolis to become Superman, and eventually, Lana followed, to strike up a rivalry with Superman's current paramour, Lois Lane.


Here's a few of the tales that show off how these two got along....or didn't!

Adventure Comics #211

Adventure Comics #211 (April, 1955 by Otto Binder, Curt Swan and Stan Kaye) features "Superboy's Most Amazing Dream"...

....that dream has both Lana and Lois in it.


But, it was a dream of Superboy's future as Superman, and how, if Lana knew Clark's secret identity, Lana would reveal it to reporter, Lois.  So, Superboy decides not to trust Lana Lang with the knowledge of his dual identity.

It wasn't impossible for Clark to dream of Lois, and her career as a reporter, having met Lois before (back in Adventure Comics #128...but Lana wasn't around then...).

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #7

Lana Lang comes to Metropolis in Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #7 (February, 1959 by Jerry Coleman and Kurt Schaffenberger).

Having lived in Smallville, Lana wanted to get out of town, and after a recent encounter with Lana in Smallville (in Superman #116), headed to Superman's new home town.

Problem was, Lana exhausted her funds moving to Metropolis, so she needed help, turning to Lois (who got Lana a job at the Daily Planet as well as letting Lana stay in her apartment).

This begins the modern day rivalry between Lois and Lana, with the two ladies wondering which of them Superman loves more, and leaving them both wondering which would be "The Girl Who Stole Superman".

Superboy #72

Next up is "The Flying Girl of Smallville" from Superboy #72 (April, 1959 by Jerry Coleman and Creig Flessel).

Lana is on her own this time with the Boy of Steel, getting his fingerprints....which leads Superboy to offer Lana a wish to prevent her from learning his secret identity.

Lana wants to learn how to fly, with Superboy figuring out a way to do just that, but almost at a terrible cost.

If Lana wears the flying belt for too long, her flight powers become permanent.

Superboy has to play a trick on Lana to get the belt off of her....

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #17 

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #17 (May, 1960) features "Lana Lang, Superwoman" by Jerry Siegel, Curt Swan and Stan Kaye.  

Superman offers Lana a blood transfusion to giver her super powers.  Lois is outraged by this, until Superman makes the same offer to her, having both women have powers while Superman has to leave the planet for a while.  The two women go to an abandoned mine, and would have died there, had not Superman given them powers.  

Superman returns, and explains Brainiac set him up, blackmailing the Man of Steel with the potential destruction of Earth unless he left for a time, so the women would face the explosion without him around.  

Thus, Superman came up with the power transfer to the ladies (which ended up being temporary), with Brainiac leaving Earth alone since Superman followed his instructions.

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #21

A supernatural lake provides Lois and Lana powers again, leading to "The Battle Between Super-Lois and Super-Lana" in Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #21 (November, 1960) by Jerry Siegel and Kurt Schaffenberger.


While super-powered, the ladies end up in a fight....each figuring if they could win, the winner would also win the affections of Superman.


Problem is, the powers wore off before a victor could be decided, and the lake was destroyed, so they couldn't get the powers back, allowing Superman not to have to make a choice between Lois and Lana, yet again.

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #19

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #19 (August, 1960) by Jerry Siegel and Kurt Schaffenberger features the story of "Mr. and Mrs. Clark (Superman) Kent".

This is an imaginary tale (but aren't they all?), featuring a story out of the regular continuity of the Superman titles of the time, where Clark reveals his secret to Lois, then marries her as Clark Kent.  This creates problems for Lois, especially when she sees other women interact with Superman (as well as having to deal with gossipy neighbors, who feel Lois could do better than Clark).

This disheartens Lois, who knows how super Clark is, but cannot tell anyone, for fear of revealing his secret.

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #26

Not to be outdone, Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #26 (July, 1961) by Jerry Siegel and Kurt Schaffenberger features the other end of the imaginary story idea, with "The Day Superman Married Lana Lang".

Lana finds out that Clark is Superman, but instead of publishing his identity as a scoop, asks him to wipe her memory of this knowledge, to keep Clark safe, which so impresses Superman, that he marries her.

Superman then develops a formula to give Lana powers, which leads to trouble for the couple, as Lana does not have Superman's vulnerability to Kryptonite, thus leading to her constantly saving him, stressing their marriage until the Man of Steel leaves Lana to regain his own pride.

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #5

"Superman's Greatest Sacrifice" happened in Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #5 (November-December, 1958) by Robert Bernstein and Kurt Schaffenberger (not pictured on the cover), where Lois Lane goes to get a picture of Dolores Drake, a reclusive millionaire (that Lois happens to discover is a look-a-like for herself).

Superman sees the two together at the Daily Planet, and proclaims his love for Delores...with Superman even going so far to offer to remove his powers to marry Delores!

Lois uncovers a plot of local criminals to rob Drake's mansion, rushing there to save the now powerless Superman....finding out Superman still had his powers, and this was all a trap to expose an imposter Delores Drake.

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #10

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #10 (July, 1959) by Robert Bernstein and Kurt Schaffenberger shows how fickle Lois can be at times, as it features "Lois Lane's Romeo" (not the story featured on the cover...).


While covering a film festival in Italy with Clark Kent, Lois becomes jealous of Superman, who appears at movie premieres with a local actress, Gina Loretti.


Lois pursues her own fling, with Dino Del Monaco, but that ends when Superman reveals he's a crook to Lois (with Gina's help). 

Lois Lane had two Annuals before her 80 Page Giant, with the first coming out in the Summer of 1962, featuring a heap of great Lois Lane stories, and the second Annual coming out in the Summer of 1963, showcasing some of Lois' odder transformations...

....but neither of these show the green-eyed monster that Lois turns into when Lana's around, thanks to jealousy.